SOI-based trapezoidal waveguide with 45° microreflector for noncoplanar optical interconnect

Abstract

A silicon on insulator (SOI)-based trapezoidal waveguide with a 45° reflector for noncoplanar optical interconnect is demonstrated. The proposed waveguide is fabricated on an orientation-defined (100) SOI substrate by using a single-step anisotropic wet-etching process. The optical performances of proposed waveguides are numerically and experimentally studied. Transmittance of -4.51 dB, alignment tolerance of ±20 μm, cross talk of -53 dB, and propagation loss of -0.404 dB/cm are achieved The proposed waveguide would be a basic element and suitable for the future intrachip optical interconnects.

Wedge Surface Plasmon Polariton Waveguides Based on Wet-Bulk Micromachining

“…Two wedge plasmon polariton (WPP) modes propagate on the two edges of the wedge SPP waveguide structures. The sidewall corner α of the silicon waveguide can be 35.26 • , 45 • , 54.74 • or 90 • , which are proposed on the basis of exploring the wet anisotropic etching property of single crystal silicon in a KOH solution [19,20,22].…”

“…The important part of the wedge SPP waveguide is the silicon waveguide that forms the shape and size of the wedge SPP waveguide. The silicon waveguides can be realized by dry etching using focus ion beam micromachining [23], reactive ion etching [24] or wet etching [19,20]. In this work, the silicon waveguides are fabricated by wet-bulk micromachining using SOI wafer technology.…”

“…Silicon-based SPP waveguides can be fabricated by dry etching or wet etching. Recently, there have been several reports on wedge-shaped silicon waveguides based on the anisotropic wet etching property of single crystal silicon [19][20][21]. However, the exploration of wedge silicon SPP waveguides based on the anisotropic wet etching property has not yet been reported.…”

Magnetically-Actuated Swing-Type MEMS Mirror Pair for a Reconfigurable Optical Interconnect

“…[23] A major component is the 45 • -slanted reflecting surface or mirror that is often used to deflect light by 90 • . Anisotropic silicon wet etching has been used to fabricate 45 • mirrors of this kind [24], [25]; however, these mirrors are fixed, which prevents optical beam steering and optical fine tuning. Therefore, we have designed and fabricated 45 • -assembled micromirrors with swinging ability.…”

Polymer-Waveguide-Based Optical Circuit With Two Vertical-Transition Output Ports Realized on Silicon Substrate for Optical Interconnects

“…The optical waveguides combined with a vertical-transition structure developed on a silicon substrate [15]- [17] or a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate [10]- [14], [18] to form a vertical-coupling configuration have received great attention in the recent years [10]- [18]. Several approaches were proposed to realize the vertical-transition structures, such as the grating coupler [10], the threedimensional (3-D) taper [11], [12], the vertically integrated multimode interferometer (MMI) coupler [13], [14], the through-silicon photonic via (TSPV) combined the grating coupler [15], and the reflective mirrors [16]- [25]. Among those approaches, the grating coupler, the vertically integrated MMI coupler, and the TSPV combined with a grating coupler can couple optical power in the vertical direction within a very compact region.…”